Kevin Foley: How to deal with a diver

“How do you deal with a diving player? Do you tell the ref, confront him or just remain patient? Because it’s driving me crazy!”
Kamal Sandar, via email

More after the break

Kevin Foley says:

“You’ve got to make the ref aware of it, because if you don’t, he can be conned. If you tell him he might be switched on to it, so if the player does dive, he’s less likely to give a free-kick for every little challenge.

It also keeps that player on his toes as he knows the ref’s watching him. In the back of his mind, the player will be aware the ref knows his game, so if he does dive there’s every chance he’ll pick up a booking.

You don’t want to confront the player as he’ll know that he’s got into your head and if you’re angry, you’re much more likely to put in a rash challenge, which is what every diving player is looking for.

So whatever you do, try to stay on your feet and don’t dive into challenges – that makes it easier for him to go down.

It’s especially important that you stay calm if the player manages to get you booked, because if you dive in again and get sent off, he’s won.”